CLEVELAND: The frayed nerves and trepidation that typically come with a two-game losing streak in the postseason doesn’t apply to LeBron James. He has been in this position plenty of times before.
James entered Wednesday’s pivotal Game 5 with a sense of calmness and expected his teammates to follow his lead. What they got instead was an explosion.
James had 23 points, eight assists and six rebounds, Kevin Love returned to form with 25 points and Kyrie Irving scored 23 in the Cavs’ 116-78 dismantling of the Toronto Raptors to take an emphatic 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals. It was the Cavaliers’ most lopsided playoff win in franchise history — surpassing their 31-point win at home in Game 1 of this series.
The Cavs have outscored the Raptors by 88 points in their three home games. They can close out the Raptors and return to the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year with a win in Friday’s Game 6 at Air Canada Centre.
The game was effectively over after the first quarter, when the Cavs’ 37 points were the most they’ve scored in any quarter in this series. The Raptors didn’t surpass 37 until the first two minutes of the third quarter. They didn’t surpass the Cavs’ Big Three total of 71 points until the game’s last few minutes — and all three stars sat the entire fourth quarter.
Kyle Lowry had 13 points and six assists and DeMar DeRozan scored 14 points for the Raptors after combining for 67 points in their Game 4 win at home. They’ll need more of that magic on Friday to continue this series after the Cavs displayed the type of dominance they flashed during their 10-game winning streak to begin the postseason.
The biggest key to the turnaround was perhaps Love, who struggled miserably during the two losses at Toronto and compounded matters by twisting his knee during the third quarter of Game 4.
Love made his first six shots Wednesday and finished the night 8-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-4 from behind the 3-point line after shooting 5-of-23 during the two losses at Toronto. Cavs coach Tyronn Lue had a pep talk with Love during Tuesday’s off day.
“If you miss 10, 11 shots, so what?” Lue told him. “Those are your shots, you’re open, and you’ve got to take them with confidence.”
The Cavs rebounded from two pitiful showings defensively to hold the Raptors to 39 percent shooting, including 3-of-17 from behind the 3-point line.
Richard Jefferson had 11 points and five rebounds off the bench, Tristan Thompson had nine points and 10 rebounds. The Cavs shot 10-of-21 from behind the 3-point line after struggling from deep during this series.
James emphasized a faster start Wednesday after the Cavs started poorly and fell behind by 18 to the Raptors in Game 4. They certainly succeeded. The Cavs scored 11 consecutive points during one stretch of the first quarter and 10 of the last 11 to close the quarter with a 37-19 lead. They never looked back.
“Just a very calm moment for myself, personally,” James said before the game. “I relish this opportunity to be a part of the postseason once again, to be on my home floor, so, a sense of calmness. I think they’ll follow that.”
They certainly did.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.